Roast-Beef and Movies

The premise is three (it would be three, ala The Three you-know-what) knock-abouts somehow wander into a film studio, overhear a film producer in a screening room say he will pay 100 grand for a better picture than his studio can produce, and produce three cans of film as their offer. There is NOTHING FUNNY about any of this. The dialogue is atrocious, pacing laborious, the acting... what acting??

Why in the world would the great Curly agree to participate in such a complete piece of garbage??? Perhaps being under contract with MGM he had no choice (?) Anything remotely 'funny' in this bore-fest is warmed-over gags stolen from The Three Stooges. Interesting only as a chance to see a stifled Curly in a Stooge-less setting.

While Columbia is the name associated with The Three Stooges, they were originally signed by the Tiffany of studios, MGM...along with their boss, Ted Healy. But MGM had absolutely no idea what to do with these four men and placed them in some very strange films. In the Gable/Crawford musical, "Dancing Lady", they appear in some minor roles....and seem absolutely nothing like the Stooges we are familiar with today. In fact, Larry played the pianist playing for the rehearsals of the play in this film. And, because they didn't know what to do with them, they even experimented by having Curly appear in a film without the Stooges or Ted Healy! And, he's billed by his real name...Jerry Howard.

"Roast-Beef and Movies" is a strange little short film. It's unusual not just because Jerry is solo, but the film is made in Two-Color Technicolor...a precursor to full color. However, the picture, like other two color methods (like Cinecolor) doesn't give the full spectrum of colors and everything looks orange-red and green! It was very innovative but produced a rather ugly film by standards of Three- Color Technicolor which was being developed around the time this film debuted. So, there are no Stooges and the color is ugly as can be.

The film consists of a guy who is a fast-talking guy with a HEAVY foreign accent--so heavy folks might have a hard time understanding Gus Parkyurkarkus (George Givot). He brings along his two assistants (one is Curly) and tries to convince the studio chief that he is a brilliant filmmaker. Then you see clips of a lot of crappy films (such as one that looks like it was done Busby Berkeley Style...if he was really drunk) and Givot puts on such a ridiculous accent...even though he was born in Omaha! I think folks back in the 1930s thought he was funny...well, folks in 2017 certainly WON'T! He's tiresome to say the least....and sadly Curly is given very little to do. On his WORST day, Curly would have been 1000 times funnier...and he's essentially wasted.

My verdict is that this is a terrible film...but one Stooges fans and film historians might just wanna see. Without that connection, I'd score this one a 2...and with it...well, still a 2! It's bad and my 2 might just be generous as none of Givot's routine is funny in the least...and, sadly, it's supposed to be! The ending, by the way, is at least kinda funny!!

"Roast-Beef and Movies" (1934) is notable for being the only film wherein Jerry "Curly" Howard acts without at least one other Stooge also being involved. But he doesn't really do a lot here and seems woefully out of place. He's shown as being part of a trio, but he doesn't seem to belong with the other two guys at all.

The dance numbers (left over from other films) do little beyond dragging things out, and their presence here makes no sense. Remove these and what you have left is still a bit dumb, but probably not much worse than the typical comedy fare of the era.

Bottom line: If "Curly" wasn't involved, there would be no reason for anyone today to be watching or talking about this short.

I've been a Stooges fan since like most of us, when I was a kid. Lately I've had interest in seeing some of the early stuff. This little feature can be found on the DVD for the movie Dancing Lady (also features the Stooges) and another short called Plane Nuts (again featuring the Stooges). Each feature is worth a look.

Roast Beef & Movies comes off as a pilot or idea for a different stooge group, and thank goodness it didn't fly, but that doesn't make this unwatchable, I do agree with the original review that the Greek accent is forced from the lead stooge George Givot, and they tried to establish a catch line "How'd Ya Like That" that might have been said by this guy during future shorts (He did a another short by that title as well). The other stooge was a fellow named Bob Callahan, he did a decent job.

A very young Curly is the draw here and makes this worth seeing if only to observe a glimpse of his future greatness. His voice is a little soft in this one much like "Nertsery Rhymes", I would highly recommend that one a well, if you can find it.

The dancer segments come off as strange but interesting, the troop is called the Albertina Rasch Dancers (they also appear in Plane Nuts), in each segment they show some nice close-ups of some of the dancers, beautiful young women. Amazing synchronized sequences for that era as well.

If you can find Dancing Lady on DVD check out the extras, well worth the price of admission for any Stooge fan.

Possibly the only outing for Curly of the Three Stooges fame in a credited role without at least one other stooge or Ted Healy, and his talents were wasted here. I had this short on in the background at first, and heard the voice of George Givot, thinking it was Desi Arnez at first with the fake accent. His line "Well, Hoooow you liiiike that?" Sounded like a catch phrase attempt, not sure if it took beyond this mess. The color tones were interesting, as we've only seen Curly in black and white otherwise. But it lacked that full technicolor look that films would soon adapt. The plot seemed very possible for a Stooges short, and made me wonder if there was an issue back then where Moe and Larry refused to work on this short, or was ,Curly trying to create his own team? There were scenes that George felt like a poor man's Moe, and the other under used stooge, Bobby Callahan was a poor sub for Larry. The uneven script and poor plotting showed how incredible the team working with the real Three Stooges were (or would become). The twist ending was again a typical plot twist from many Three Stooges shorts. An interesting piece of history, worth the view, if only to Curly, but nothing to pay for today. I saw it on a local tv station that airs public domain movies, but I would of been disappointed had I paid for this.